Post navigation

Why a World Renowned Fluoridationist Changed His Mind

Last week I wrapped up with a quote from Dr. John Colquhoun and this week I would like to take some time to begin to explore who he was and the impact he has had on me personally and professionally with regards to the fluoride issue.

Dr. Colquhoun, like me, realized that during our training, we only learn one side of the scientific controversy over fluoridation.

“I had been taught and I believed, that there was really no scientific case against fluoride and that only misinformed lay people and a few crackpot professionals were foolish enough to oppose it”.

Dr. Colquhoun practiced dentistry in Auckland, New Zealand for many years and went on to become the city’s Principal Dental Officer. In a published paper in the New Zealand Dental Journal, he reported how children’s tooth decay had declined since the city began water fluoridation and that the greatest benefit appeared to be in low-income areas.

Dr. Colquhoun’s public- service superiors were so thrilled with his passion and commitment to water fluoridation that they requested he embark on a world study tour on the subject in 1980 – after which he would become their expert on fluoridation and thus lead a campaign to fluoridate areas of New Zealand that had resisted previously.

Interestingly, just prior to leaving for his world tour, his superiors cited some new evidence that showed children being seen in school dental clinics were experiencing declining tooth decay and that the decline was being seen just as much in places where fluoride had not been added to the water supply!!! They thought that the decline in tooth decay in non-fluoridated areas could be explained through the use of fluoride toothpastes, fluoride supplements and from fluoride applications to children’s teeth provided in dental clinics which had all started at the same time as water fluoridation. They assured him that more detailed data collection was necessary and would undoubtedly reveal that teeth were better in fluoridated areas and that they would start to collect this data while he was away.

“Being a keen fluoridationist, I readily accepted their explanation. Previously, of course, we had assured the public that the only really effective way to reduce tooth decay was to add fluoride to the water supply”.

Next week we will see where Dr. Colquhoun’s world study tour took him and the disconcerting evidence that he was continuously confronted with while on that tour!

Please stay tuned. In the meantime, I’d love to get your feedback. As always, you get commentluv here on my blog site. You can leave a link back to your own site when you leave a comment.